Thanks to the recent development of human genetics, we now have a lot of characters which are known to be hereditary in accordance with Mendelian laws. Indeed, it is certain that many characters depend on the existence of dominant, recessive, isostatic or multiple genes, but about such quantitative characters as anthropological measures, what we can do at best is either to test the fitness of hypothesis that may depend, for example, on multiple genes or calculate the correlation coefficients from the data of parents and their children. The fact that genetics has been directing their effort more to the experimental studies than to the problems of population genetics, seems to be a reason that the normal quantitative characters of man, who is inadequate to genetic study because of his short duration of life, few progenies and impossibility of random mating, are not clarified sufficiently in geneticcontext. Statistical data of anthropological characters, however, are increasing and some of them can be examined on the principles of genetics. If they are analysed from the stand point of population genetics, much light will be thrown upon the problems of human heredities. We can already enumarate such good examples as estimations of mutation ratio and the effect of consanguineous marriage on the distribution of malign genes.

View full abstract

On January 14th, 1960, the authors investigated Higashiyama protohistoric tomb, Gôdo shell-mound of Yayoi age, Gôdo-sin meisya site containing Haji, Sué and Shiraku-like potteries and Kujihama site containing Jomon, Yayoi, Haji, Sué and Shiraku-like potteries in Shinojima island, Minamichita-chô, Chitagun, Aichi prefecture. The Shiraku-like pottery including potteries with a horn-shaped leg is crudely made and shows a Haji-like quality. It is generally considered to have been a remain related to the salt production. In contrast to sites related to dwellings, many Haji-like pottery containing sites have been found to be situated at seashore. However, the Shinmeisha site should be interpreted as a dwelling on account of its situation at a height about 10 meters above the sea level. In Shinojima island only one ancient tomb has been found, while nearby Himaga and Saku islands have been known to have 24 and 32 tombs respectively. It is the authors' opinion that such unique distribution of ancient tombs in these islands may be explained by an interrelation between the islands and the main land.

View full abstract

Die Muroya-Höhle liegt an dem F1uö Muroya der Provinz Echigo in Japan. Aus derselben Höhle wurden viele tierische und menschliche Knochen, in 1960 und 1961, mit den irdenen Waren von TOKOYO and HANAZUMIKASO Typen. Diese Typen fallen auf die Periode aus der Früh zur Frühmittel Jomon der neolithischen Zeit. Diese Knochenstücke bestehen wahrscheinlich aus 7 Individuen, welche vermutlich zu den Lebensjahren vom Kinderalter zum reifen Alter gehören. Abgesehen von einem Individuum sind die Knochen so zerstuckelt, daß man ihre spezifischen Eigenschaf ten weder finden noch darüber ausführlich diskurieren kann.
Die Beerdigungsverhãltnisse der Nr. 2. haben eine eigentliche Art. Das Skelett, dessen Hüft-, Knie-und rechte Ellbogengelenke gebeugt sind, bleibt verhäßig gut sich gehalten, aber das linke Elibogengelenk ist ausgestreckt. Der Rumpf desselben liegt auf der Brust, jedoch mag die Leiche bei der Beerdigung auf die linke Seite gelegt worden sein. Die rote Substanz ist an dem Skelett und auch rings um daselbe nicht zu finden. Auf dem rechten Schulterteile ist ein großer irdener Krug von der Fukabachi Form (HANAZUMIKASO Typus) gestellt.
Das Skelett ist an seiner Längsachse entlang mit einer künstlichen halbelliptischen Steinreiche versehen, und auf dem Knieteil ist besonders emn großer, viereckiger Stein gestellt, worauf sich einige Steine der obenerwähnten Steinreihe befinden. Ein Teil der Steinreihe, worauf die menschlichen Knochenstücke der Nr. 3 gestreut sind, mag wegen der Beerdigung derselben weggeräumt worden sein.
Nach der Längenbreiten-Index mag sich der Schädel (Nr. 2.) brachykran zeigen. Femur ist etwas pilasterförmig, und Tibia neigt sich platt. Sowohl die anhaftenden Flachen des M. soleus auf Tibia und des M. brachialis auf Ulna als Tuberositas tibiae sind deutlich eher furchenförmig konkav als vorspringend. Der Oberkief er ist schon verloren, aber am Unterkiefer ist keine küstliche Zahnmution zu finden. Die Zahnabnutzung ist nicht so hochgradig, and die Bißform scheint Zangenbiß zu sein. Dieses Individuum scheint nach dem Grad der Nahtobliteration ein schlankes Weib von dem erwachsenen oder reifen Alter zu sein. Das andere Individuum scheint wahrscheinlich ein kräftiger Mann zu sein, dessen rechte Femur typisch pilasterförmig ist.

View full abstract

The changes in the physique of the Japanese through the historic ages have been traced since about ten years ago in the researches by SUZUKI, one of the present authors, and others. So far as the morphological characteristics of the head and face are concerned the change seems to be more rapid in the period from Edo era (17th-19th c.) to the present time than in the earlier periods in the history or Japan. Therefore, it is certainly one of our major interests to know the physical characteristics of the people who lived in the latter half of 19th century, which is an intermediate epoch between the two eras and is the dawn of modern Japan.
Fortunately, the remains of the navy tomb, situated at Shirogane in Tokyo, in which 592 sailors and officers of the early period of the Japanese navy had been buried, were re-buried several years ago, and 191 skulls of them became available for our investigation.
According to the document of the tomb, most of the buried persons were born in 1841-70 and died in 1873-90. Many of the officers and warrant officers were derived from samurai familyi n the feudal age, while a majority of the sailors were common people. As these two groups were buried in different parts of the tomb, the skulls could be separated for examination into three subgroups, i. e., (1) officers and warrant officers, (2) sailors, and (3) unknown classes.
The results of the craniometry of Shirogane people were compared with those of the peoples of various historic ages (Suzukl et al.) and contemporary Japanese from Tokyo-Yokohama area. In many of the characteristics of the skull, Shiroagne people show an intermediate form between the people of Edo era and contemporary Japanese, and in some other characteristics they are nearer to either the former or the latter. The details are as follows:
(1) The group of characteristics in which Shirogane people are nearer to Edo people and show significant differences from contemporary Japanese are the maximum head breadth, transversal arc length, nasal form, profile angle and prominence of the nasal root.
(2) The group of characteristics in which Shirogane people are intermediate and show significant differences both from Edo people and contemporary Japanese are the nasal breadth, inter-orbital breadth and alveolar profile angle.
(3) The group of characteristics in which Shirogane people show marked differences from Edo people and are rather near to contemporary Japanese are the maximum head length, length-breadth index of the head, length-height index of the head, horizontal circumference of the head, facial breadth and height, facial form, bi-orbital breadth and orbital form.
(4) Shirogane people show no significant differences either from Edo people or from contemporary Japanese in the module of the head, basi-bregmatic height, medio-sagittal arc length, middle facial breadth, orbital and nasal height, etc.
Accordingly, it is probable that the changes in characteristics have not occurred simultaneously in all of them but in the order of the groups of characteristics (3), (2) and (1).
The fact that there are some differences in measurement values between the officers and the sailors, buried in different parts of the tomb, is probably due to the difference between two social classes in the feudal age, the samurai and the common people. The homologous phenomenon has already been found in the study of Tsushima islanders (IKEDA et al.), in which the samurais seem to have more progressive characteristics than the common people.

View full abstract